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Country & Cozy: Countryside Homes and Rural Retreats
Yves Saint Laurent Museum Marrakech
Even if the post-pandemic mass exodus from our cities hasn’t materialised quite as predicted, the hardest urbanite still might yearn for a bit of fresh air and a simple country bolthole. Gestalten’s new book includes rural homes from upstate New York to a village outside Beijing: naturally, many homeowners are in the creative industries such as designer Nigel Coates’ Tuscan retreat or interior architect Ilkka Mälkiäinen’s Finnish farmhouse, while others are the clients of brilliant architects, as is the case with Will Gamble Architects’ Parchment Works, a contemporary extension to a partially ruined 17th-century factory. The underlying message is that the countryside is not just somewhere to get away from it all, but a place to better connect with what matters.
Not many contemporary buildings warrant their own monograph, but Studio KO’s Yves Saint Laurent Museum in Marrakech certainly feels deserving of the honour. The museum opened in 2017, with Studio KO working with Saint Laurent’s former partner Pierre Bergé to design a fitting tribute to the French couturier, with exhibition rooms, a library, bookshop and cafe. In diary format, the book takes readers behind the scenes of the making of the building – a heavenly hymn to local materials and craftsmanship, with decorative brickwork and a lush garden – illustrated with sketches, plans and photographs alongside images of Yves Saint Laurent’s couture creations. The start-to-finish creative process, and the story of a fascinating collaboration, are laid bare.
by Catherine Sabbah (Phaidon)
by Gestalten editors (Gestalten)
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